Gas sensors are multifarious in modern industry. For each application, a different sensor configuration is usually needed to meet the criteria of a particular application. An arrayed device, capable of being inexpensively calibrated for a prescribed set of analyte gases, would present an ideal device for a diversity of applications. At a recent NSF/NIST “Process Measurement and Control Workshop” several critical challenges for further sensor development were identified. For instance, individual sensor systems should be produced cost effectively in any scale processes. Also, government and industry standards require the operation of a device in a safely monitored and environmentally friendly manner. Key to developing these new capabilities is the need for easier calibration models, methods to transfer calibration sensors with given performance properties and/or process parameters, calibration transfer among multiple ‘like’ sensors, and transitioning from laboratory development to plant operation.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for sensors that address one or more of the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.